Police recovered the children from Sharif’s father’s home.

“Police with a heavy contingent on Monday evening raided Sharif’s residence in Jhelum and recovered five children. They are healthy and in good condition,” Nasir Mehmood Bajwa, a district police officer, told the English newspaper.

It has been a month since Sharif arrived in Pakistan and called 999 in the UK to report that his daughter was dead at his home in Horsell, near Woking. A post-mortem examination found she had suffered “multiple and extensive injuries” over a “sustained and extended” period of time.

Sharif, 41, went to ground along with Sara’s stepmother, Beinash Batool, 29, his five other children, aged between one and 13, and his brother, Faisal Malik, 28.

Bajwa said police broke the locks of the main gate, entered the house and confiscated CCTV cameras. He said they were continuing to search for Sharif, Batool and Malik. Police have raided more than 20 properties in the search.

The BBC reported that a neighbour said: “Police officers, including female officers, raided the house. They broke the CCTV at the entrance and entered it. While inside, more officers arrived outside and stopped the traffic. They stopped everyone from filming on their mobile phones.”

Muhammad Sharif, Sara’s grandfather, told the BBC he had been hiding the children in his home in the north-eastern city of Jhelum but would not say how long they had been there.